Heimir Hallgrímsson

[Exgrad]

Here's an indepth article by the Athletic, for anyone who has a subscription:

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/290...abuse-scandal/

[The Fly]

Here's an indepth article by the Athletic, for anyone who has a subscription:

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/290...abuse-scandal/

Use this to read it:

https://archive.ph/e5zyD

[Eirambler]

The press conference was a tough enough watch at times. But the fairly shambolic process that led to this point with Canham hiding from proper questioning for months meant that was always going to be the case. HH might be wondering what he has walked himself into here between the manager saga and the historic allegations that have just come out, in addition to Duff's comments yesterday.

My initial impression is that I like the guy. But I wonder if he's been a bit naive coming in without agreeing at least a framework of a backroom team. O'Shea will undoubtedly be there but he's worse than a man down, I suppose he can hand out the training bibs or something. Coleman's comments that the existing staff are good should surely be taken with a pinch of salt by HH, Coleman was hardly going to throw them all under a bus in his first conversation with a guy he doesn't know.

I hope he has a few names in mind that he was keeping to himself today because nearly anyone who has been involved in the senior team coaching setup for the last four years should be run out of the place as far as I'm concerned.

Then there was all the awkward stuff about timelines. I think it's clearer than ever that HH wasn't the man in April, Canham's fudged and pre-heated answers didn't really hold water there. Dervan or whoever it was trying to move the discussion on once someone tried to tie him down on it. Poor stuff. They were obviously ready for the Greenwood question as well, the answer was basically pinning it on the Jamaican FA for putting HH in an awkward spot at the time. Will be interesting to see if that's the end of it. Couldn't have come at a worse time really given the allegations from the weekend there.

As for the Sky Sports reporter who used his prime question slot to ask whether England would win the Euros or not, well there are no words really. The biggest clown in the room, and that takes some doing in some of that company. Even the other journos were laughing at him.

[JR89]

McDonnell makes a good point about the O'Shea bit. If O'Shea hasn't agreed to come on board yet why go public that you've asked him. Plus as he said if the FAI wants people to believe the timeline you'd assume some staff would have been announced today.

Not a fan of O'Shea staying on. Think his presence will cause some issues in the media with the way some have been angling for him to get the job. If HH doesn't have a positive start in September they'll have the knives out if they're already not out before then.

[Razors left peg]

The press conference was a tough enough watch at times. But the fairly shambolic process that led to this point with Canham hiding from proper questioning for months meant that was always going to be the case. HH might be wondering what he has walked himself into here between the manager saga and the historic allegations that have just come out, in addition to Duff's comments yesterday.

My initial impression is that I like the guy. But I wonder if he's been a bit naive coming in without agreeing at least a framework of a backroom team. O'Shea will undoubtedly be there but he's worse than a man down, I suppose he can hand out the training bibs or something. Coleman's comments that the existing staff are good should surely be taken with a pinch of salt by HH, Coleman was hardly going to throw them all under a bus in his first conversation with a guy he doesn't know.

I hope he has a few names in mind that he was keeping to himself today because nearly anyone who has been involved in the senior team coaching setup for the last four years should be run out of the place as far as I'm concerned.

Then there was all the awkward stuff about timelines. I think it's clearer than ever that HH wasn't the man in April, Canham's fudged and pre-heated answers didn't really hold water there. Dervan or whoever it was trying to move the discussion on once someone tried to tie him down on it. Poor stuff. They were obviously ready for the Greenwood question as well, the answer was basically pinning it on the Jamaican FA for putting HH in an awkward spot at the time. Will be interesting to see if that's the end of it. Couldn't have come at a worse time really given the allegations from the weekend there.

As for the Sky Sports reporter who used his prime question slot to ask whether England would win the Euros or not, well there are no words really. The biggest clown in the room, and that takes some doing in some of that company. Even the other journos were laughing at him.

A lot of the better Journos like Dan Mc would still be in Germany. I thought that press conference was shameful. Ridiculous questions by bad reporters. Asking Hallgrimsson (I hope my phone learns that predictive text soon) about Damien Duffs comments etc. The whole tone was negative. There were no questions about his style of play, what he knows about the likes of Ferguson or any other young players etc. What will his preparation be like over next few weeks, will he be going to preseason games or watching videos, further expand on his plans to be involved with youth structures... so much actual relevant stuff to talk about

[Stuttgart88]

It's almost like they don't want to hurt O'Shea's feelings. HH's English isn't as good as I expected it to be.

Canham is a slippery xxxx

[JR89]

A lot of the better Journos like Dan Mc would still be in Germany. I thought that press conference was shameful. Ridiculous questions by bad reporters. Asking Hallgrimsson (I hope my phone learns that predictive text soon) about Damien Duffs comments etc. The whole tone was negative. There were no questions about his style of play, what he knows about the likes of Ferguson or any other young players etc. What will his preparation be like over next few weeks, will he be going to preseason games or watching videos, further expand on his plans to be involved with youth structures... so much actual relevant stuff to talk about

He touches on some of it here in an interview with Virgin Media.

[Razors left peg]

He touches on some of it here in an interview with Virgin Media.

Much better, proper questioning

[Acornvilla]

When Duff was brought up, I thought at least someone to god would mention they're playing in Europe tonight and ask if he was going.

It was an extremely poor press conference mostly consisting of pre written statements read out slowly. For HH's part he probably answered what he was asked about as well as he could be expected.

[JR89]

They have the full interview on their YouTube channel, it's 8 minutes long.

https://youtu.be/8Lop6LoCoH8?si=TlSzVxIj6utOiU3-

[Eirambler]

Once again I liked the answers too. He gets international football for a team like Ireland - it's not about how much time you have the ball for, it's about what you do with it when you have it. Play the percentages and if you get a chance to have a go at goal, take it on. That doesn't necessarily have to mean old style hoofball either, you can do it by bringing the ball forward quickly and with intent.

I remember Kenny in an early press conference almost laughing at the idea that we might play counter attacking football, he just couldn't see any way other than his own. Safe to say this lad won't be taking the media back to his office to show them clips from Man City games as though they have any relevance to the Ireland team.

[JR89]

Interesting comments about O'Shea and seeing how Hallgrimsson eventually became manager of Iceland shouldn't be too surprised. Said it's his belief that whoever the board thinks will takeover in the future should be with the team prior to that.

[Eirambler]

Interesting comments about O'Shea and seeing how Hallgrimsson eventually became manager of Iceland shouldn't be too surprised. Said it's his belief that whoever the board thinks will takeover in the future should be with the team prior to that.

Yes, that leaves me wishing Mr Hallgrimsson a successful and very long tenure in charge of the team...

[Eirambler]

Hopefully Heidir was tuned in to the Derry City game this evening to get a sense of where the quality of one of the top domestic sides sits in the context of the senior national team. Maybe he's at Tolka instead...

Meanwhile, a little bit of fallout on the Jamaican side.

https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/...ting-bad-faith

Canham would probably have advised him not to predict a date for announcing the replacement manager so confidently.

[geysir]

Can Geysir comment on that?

No Icelandic player has been charged, as in charged by the law, for any sexual crimes. The most high profile incident was with Gylfi Sig in England, he had online contact with a woman who turned out to be Albanian and under age, attempts were made by her family to blackmail him, he went to the police straight away and turned himself in, it took at least 18 months for the prosecutor to decide there was no case to answer. Obviously he had to answer for his behavior to himself and to his family and of late is still intact.

On the other stuff, Heimir was asked and gave an explanation (like it or not) about his previous statements on Greenwood. It's very easy to take two lines out of context from that explanation and highlight them in isolation with a megaphone.
Social media can be Hyde Park corner gone ballistic.

[Acornvilla]

No Icelandic player has been charged, as in charged by the law, for any sexual crimes. The most high profile was with Gylfi Sig in England, he had online contact with a woman who turned out to be Albanian and under age, attempts were made to blackmail him and he went to the police straight away and turned himself in, it took at least 18 months for the prosecutor to decide there was no case to answer.

On the other stuff, Heimar was asked and gave an explanation (like it or not) about his previous statements on Greenwood. It's very easy to take two lines out of context and highlight them in isolation with a megaphone.
Social media can be Hyde Park corner gone ballistic.

Maybe this is a stupid question, but would you take him back as Iceland manager now if given the option?

Thank you for your Icelandic insight, you've been working towards this moment for 20 years, and have arrived when we needed you most

[Acornvilla]

When Duff was brought up, I thought at least someone to god would mention they're playing in Europe tonight and ask if he was going.

It was an extremely poor press conference mostly consisting of pre written statements read out slowly. For HH's part he probably answered what he was asked about as well as he could be expected.

He was at Tolka for anyone interested!

A penny for his thoughts on that. I had spoken of my feelings on the Greenwood thing earlier, and although it's a bit of a messy one, and as stated earlier, not something I'm fond of, I think his explanation is probably as solid as one could hope for and it probably will be left at that. It's not something we need dragging on that's for sure.

Felt kind of bad for the guy, his first press conference was mostly just people complaining and explaining away bad things, usually now is the moment you get all the good vibes and optimism.

[Eirambler]

The domestic league isn't in a great place right now being honest. The standard looks well below where it was a few years ago. Combine that with the improvement of quality and depth of the senior squad over the same period and it looks unlikely that Heimir will be capping a domestic based player in a competitive game during his time in charge.

Not that he shouldn't attend matches and keep an eye out for an individual who might stand out from the pack, also being based in Ireland going to games should help him to keep the grass roots on side as well. But I think tonight will have given him a clear sense that he'll be flying back and over to England for the most part to watch prospective players in action.

[geysir]

Maybe this is a stupid question, but would you take him back as Iceland manager now if given the option?

Thank you for your Icelandic insight, you've been working towards this moment for 20 years, and have arrived when we needed you most

Not a stupid question at all. As it stands now the vast majority are very content with the current manager Age Hareide, he's revered as a Norse God of football wisdom and the highest praise - 'an Icelander at heart'. But in the period before Age was hired and should his time come someday, Heimir would be welcomed no question. The fact that he left for opportunities abroad is not a deficit. Icelanders always return home, some come home immediately after studies abroad, others eventually. They are like homing pigeons.

[Razors left peg]

Enjoy your rise to power Geysir, we'll drag you down with Heimir when we inevitably get sick of him